Back to Reality
by o0Blondeqt0o6
Summary: After Reed returns from winter break how will she handle all of the drama caused by recent events? Will Josh ever come around? Will she reconsider a relationship with Upton? And where will her and the girls be without Billings R&J or R&U? Read to find out
1. Chapter 1

A/N: First I would like to say that I am terrible about starting stories …then never finishing them… Secondly, If you like what I write, please review…it encourages me to continue writing, or if you hate what I write…go ahead and review as well, I need someone to get terribly angry at =). Third, this story is going to be a test, and you my friends are the test subjects. I am writing a young adult novel, and as I've been brainstorming, I know all of the characteristics that make up my favorite books, but as readers, what do you like to see? Romance (of course), Mystery? Suspense?...Crazy love triangles, heartbreaks, and catty girl fights? What is it that keeps you reading? All input is appreciated!

Also…all I own is the words that make up this story, all characters and past references are property of Kate Brian & her publishing team.

So without further ado…

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"Reed! Reed, Wait up!"

I look over my shoulder, seeing Josh Hollis chase me through the quad. My heart clenches as I meet his piercing blue eyes. _Just keep walking Reed, he has no control over you anymore_. I quicken my pace, trying to focus on nothing but the grass in front of me.

Just when I thought I'd lost him, I felt a hand grasp my shoulder.

"Reed, please. We need to talk."

I stopped walking and turned to face him.

"How was your holiday Josh?" I started, my eyes burning with hurt. "I see your girlfriend has made a speedy recovery."

"Look Reed, I know I didn't call…"

"Or text or write or e-mail" I interrupted, finishing his sentence for him.

"Reed, Ivy needed me, and lets face it, having conversations with my ex-girlfriend while she was laying in the hospital wouldn't have been very supportive. She needed me, she still needs me. But Reed…I can't stop thinking about you." His eyes were pleading for me to understand.

"She needed you?...What about me Josh? I know she was shot, I know it was my fault and that sucks, and I'm sorry. But what about me?" I choked back a sob. _This is me. This is the new Reed and I'm going to let his know exactly how I feel _"I might not have been shot Josh, but I almost died. Not once, but four times over the past two weeks. I was thrown off of a boat AND I was stranded on an island alone and hungry for a week! You knew, and you never even called to ask if I was ok. But I guess I was stupid to think that you would, after all it was Ivy that needed you." I glanced at the pile of rubble that lay in the place where Billings once stood. "And to top it all off, now I'm homeless." With that I turned on my heels and bolted before Josh could say another word. What I wanted more than everything was for him to stop me from leaving, to pull me into his arms and tell me he was done with Ivy. I wanted him to choose me.

~*~

"There you are Glass-licker, we have to discuss what we're going to do about Billings." Noelle stated, linking her arm through mine.

"What can we do about something that doesn't exist?" I asked, staring at the empty space on campus. And then suddenly it clicked. I knew exactly what we were going to do. "Noelle, do you still have the Billing's Alumni address book?"

Noelle studied me for a moment, curious as to what I was up to. "Sure, it's in my luggage somewhere…what do you have in mind?"

"I just thought that if our sisters knew that all of their alumni donations were used to destroy the place that they called home, that they might hold onto their wallets a little tighter. That is until administration agrees to build Billings back, exceeding its former glory of course."

"Wow Glass-licker. Not bad, I like the way this one thinks." She replied smiling slightly at the twin cities.


	2. Chapter 2

Sitting through the morning announcements was almost as terrible as waking up in Pemberly this morning. All break one of the highlights that I had been looking forward to upon my return to Easton was moving back into Billings. Now I was stuck in my dingy Pemberly single, across the hall from the girl who stole my boyfriend.

All the room was chattering, everyone was full of questions. These questions; however, were not related to who did what over break, all of the questions were focused on Billings. What had happened and why had billings been destroyed.

"Attention please!" Headmaster Hathaway entered the room demanding attention. The room slowly silenced as he began to speak." Welcome students of Easton Academy. I am your new Headmaster, and you can address me as Professor Hathaway. I hope that all of you had a memorable vacation and I expect you to be well rested and ready to begin this term with a running start. As you may have noticed upon your arrival, there are some drastic changes that will be taking place here this term. Aside from the more visible changes there have also been many rules that myself, along with the board of directors, have updated. Please pick up your new copy of the student code of conduct before heading to class this morning. We'll keep this short, as I know you are all eager to get back to your studies." As Professor Hathaway stepped back from the podium, the lights dimmed, signaling the start of Easton's welcoming ceremony.

~*~

As I trudged to class through the fresh layer of snow that had covered the sidewalks during morning services, I was more frustrated than I had been at the start of the day, which was saying something. Hathaway hadn't answered any of the questions we all were silently asking. All he had stressed was that the school needed 'change,' but he hadn't explained why Billings had been destroyed in this effort for a better Easton. This was a grand way of repaying us for the 5 million dollars we had recently raised for the school.

Walking briskly past the side entrance of Hell Hall, I was caught off guard when I heard my name called through the door, which was slightly ajar. "Reed, over here."

Enticed by the ever familiar voice, I obeyed, sliding through the door and consequently sliding into the waiting arms of Josh.

"Josh, what…" I started but was cut short when he pressed his lips onto mine.

I knew this was wrong. I knew I should stop. He wasn't mine anymore. He belonged to Ivy. But I couldn't. Every fiber in my body begged for this moment to last forever. I pressed my body against him and wrapped my arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. My skin tingled to the touch as he pushed his hands against the small of my back. After several long minutes, we broke the kiss. I stepped back, unable to form words. Our eyes were still locked on each other when I finally built up enough composure to turn and walk away.

~*~

Three hours of dazing through class and I still couldn't wrap my mind around what had happened between me and Josh. _Way to go…the new and improved live for the moment Reed was also the home wrecking 'Other Women.' I'm not sure if this was exactly what I was going for. _I sighed to myself and shook my head. Throughout the rest of the day, I made sure to walk with my head down. I didn't know what I would do if I had to look Ivy in the eye.

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A/N: Thanks to those who have reviewed =) I really have some interesting stuff planned for this story. Major drama, haha. Stay tuned…


	3. Chapter 3

**Miss U**

I stare at the glowing light of my cell phone which had just woke me up

**It's 3 am**. I text back and rub the sleep from my eyes

**& ur awake. Need 2 C U.**

I groaned to myself. _Why can't I just tell him no?_

**Where? ** I text back, pulling on a pair of jeans. I pull my hair back into a ponytail and smooth out my white tank top before glossing my lips.

**My room. Trey is out.**

While sneaking out of my room, I glance toward Ivy's door, praying that she's asleep. I don't want to have to come up with a story to tell her if she asks me why I was sneaking around. I imagine _that "oh about that, I've been making out with your boyfriend every time you turn your back. It's gotten complicated to meet during the day so I'm skipping out on sleep to get my Josh fix"_ would be a great way to strengthen our friendship.

"Hey gorgeous." Josh pulled me into his room before I'd had a chance to knock.

"Mmm by the way, I missed you too" I purred into his neck. Josh laid me back onto his bed, crawling on top of me. When his mouth met mine I felt like I could melt. Our hands roamed and we kissed so much that my lips were red and swollen. When I was with Josh, my heart felt whole. We were supposed to be together. I snapped out of my giddy daze when I realized his hand had made its way under my shirt, his other hand was attempting to push down the waist of my jeans.

"Josh, stop." My head and my heart were battling each other. There weren't words to describe how much I wanted to let him to continue. I've waited so long for my first time with Josh. But it couldn't be like this. I'd been pretty lax on my morals but I will not sleep with someone else's boyfriend.

"What is it Reed? What's wrong?"

"I have a hard time saying no to you. We've been sneaking around for weeks now, and its killing me. You have a girlfriend Josh, and as much as I want to touch you, as much as I want to be with you, at the end of the day you're still with Ivy. You tell me you love me and maybe you do, but I can't do this anymore. I can't keep waiting for you to decide what you want. You've made your choice. You chose Ivy. And this is the last time this will happen. It's not fair to Ivy and is sure as hell not fair to me!" I picked my coat off his bed and paused at the door "I love you Josh. And it hurts."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Yes guys…I'm completely incapable of writing long chapters. I swear they look so much longer as a word document! Lol. It's only because I'm impatient and I'm used to instant gratification, so the sooner I post, the sooner I get reviews. HAHA. But I'll work on it, promise =) I'm really antsy to post a really dramatic scene that I know you'll love….but it's going to have to wait until at least next chapter.

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When I returned to my room, I broke down. Collapsing on the floor, I cried until my entire body was numb. When I finally looked at the clock it was 9 am. I had missed breakfast and morning services. Right now the Easton student body was rushing to their various classes. Instead of scrambling to get ready and running to class, I just simply rolled over. In the safe darkness of my room, with the shades drawn, I was tempted to stay in bed forever. Josh would never be mine again. I could feel it. This knowledge made my heart struggle for each beat.

"What. In. The. HELL. Are you doing?" I jumped up instantly; pretty sure I was having a heart attack. "It is 4 in the afternoon what is the matter with you? Noelle made her way through my room throwing open the blinds.

"Jesus Noelle, it's bright." I tried to shield my eyes from the blinding sunlight."I'm having my new and improved version of a fat phoebe party. It involves lying in bed until I die. So… If you'll excuse me." I laid back down, pulling my blanket over my head.

"Aw Reed..." she started with an overly sweet voice, suddenly turning venomous, "I am so not in the mood to play pity party. Get your ass up, get in the shower, and rejoin me in ten minutes."

I didn't argue.

When I came back from the bathroom, Noelle had papers strewn across my bed, she was talking on the phone and jotting down notes in a note book.

Noelle didn't look up at me until she had ended her call. "Ah, don't you smell better. Now turns out your plan is working like a charm. The Billings Alumni are furious. Turns out, when they received their donation forms last week, there was no mention of Billings no longer existing. I've already convinced 8 girls to cancel the checks that they sent to Easton. Now there are about 40 more people I have yet to contact, and if their response is anything like what I've already received, then Hathaway will have no choice but to rebuild."

I smiles to myself. At least something was going right.

"Now about your current condition, what are you slumping around about?"

"Only the fact that nothing ever seems to go the way I want it to. I haven't heard from Upton since we got off the plan like a month ago. He doesn't Text, he won't answer my calls. Josh is still with Ivy, which kills me when I see them together. I can't seem to stop whining about everything. And I have absolutely nothing to wear to the St Valentines Ball next Friday and I have several people that I'm needing to make extremely jealous."

Noelle let out a laugh "Glass-licker caring about fashion…now this is new. You know I have to seize the moment. I'm calling Kiran to meet us in the City, don't worry we'll fix you up."

Not an hour later, we were in Noelle's limo on the way to New York. One of the perks of being long time family friends with the dean I guess, off campus passes at the drop of a hat.

"First things first" Noelle declared as we strolled through the doors of a salon. "She needs layers, highlights and a mani-pedi" she barked orders at the stylist."Normally I'd suggest a spray tan…but you seem to have gotten plenty of sun during your island adventures. "

"And while we're here I'll be needing a shine treatment" she added to a nearby employee.

I had never had my hair dyed before, with the amount of tin foil in my hair; I looked like I was trying to ward off aliens. Although I will have to admit the mani-pedi was definitely relaxing. I chose French tips, assuming that they would be considered the most elegant. After the color was rinsed out and my hair was blow dried, I was amazed at the result. "Noelle, why exactly didn't you convince me to do this sooner?"

"And have you looking prettier than me when you were trying to steal my boyfriend? I don't think so. Not that it would have worked of course."

I ran my hand through my hair looking at the caramel and ash blonde streaks blended through my golden brown hair. This new color made the green tones in my eyes shine through. I looked completely different. "Should I get my eyebrows shaped?" I asked Noelle, genuinely curious.

She looked taken aback. "Actually, that a fantastic idea!"

~*~

After all the pampering, we arrived at a small boutique, which I imagined was full of couture. As we stepped inside my eyes fell upon rows and rows of dresses. Out of nowhere Kiran came strolling around a corner, clutching onto a dress with a color so deep, I wasn't sure if it was purple or blue. "There you guys are! I've been here for like, an hour…Wow Reed, suddenly I'm not so angry, your hair is amazing."

"What are you holding?" I ask

"Well…like I said I've been here for an hour. I'm pretty sure I found your dress." She replied pushing it into my hands "Go. Try it on."

After struggling to find out which side was up, I found myself wearing the most beautiful gown I had ever tried on. This was saying something, considering all of the gifts the Billings girls had given me. The color was so dark purple that it looked blue in certain light. The dress was strapless with a sweet heart neckline, the top fit very snug all the way down to my hips and then hung loosely down to the floor. There were silver sequins trailing down the front, each varying in size from very tiny to as big as an inch. I looked like I was wearing the midnight sky, blanketed by thousands of stars. "Wow Kiran," I said from behind the curtain. This dress is phenomenal, but I have no idea how I look in it. I can't stop staring at the sparkles."

"Uguh, you're hopeless!" Noelle exclaimed as she pulled aside the curtain. She paused for a moment. "Yeah, you're getting that dress. We do nice work Kiran." They exchanged pleased glances.

~*~

I was exhausted by the time I arrived back in my dorm room. I had thought that we would find a dress and then head back to campus. Boy was I wrong. How could I forget the nature of my friends? After the dress shop we had went to dinner, where Noelle and Kiran decided that I needed more retail therapy. Several cashmere sweaters and designer jeans later, they finally decided that I was cheery enough to head back to school.

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A/N Be proud! This is my longest chapter so far…maybe I am improving! Lol. Oh and as an unrelated note I encourage you not to watch the Private web series, it's terrible. Well…in my opinion anyways. =)

Thanks! Please Review!


	5. Chapter 5

One of the new "rules" of Easton was mandatory student engagement. Otherwise known as 'the school saves money on labor by making students do menial tasks.' This was why me, Noelle, London, Vienna, and Tiffany were camped out in the grand hall sorting strings of lights and metallic red hearts. We were the new Decorating committee for the St Valentines Ball. After hours of work…and near death experiences involving a ladder, the room was covered in white tulle and lights. Candles were on every surface of the room making me wonder if the place could avoid going up in flames tomorrow night. We had set up an area for drinks as well as a place to take pictures. We had decorates considerably well considering what we had to work with. I said goodnight to the girls, wanting to have some time to myself to think as I walked back to my dorm. Little did I know that the snow on the ground had turned into an impressive sheet of ice as the night had gotten cooler. I was about 10 feet away from the building when my Jimmy Choos lost their traction. This was another instance where I was grateful for my big butt, I hit the ground hard, if I was a size zero I probably would have broken my tail bone. I let out a whimper, that was going to leave a bruise.

"Are you ok?"

I looked up into the concerned eyes of Sawyer Hathaway.

"Help me up?" I ask holding up my wrist. He lifted my off the ground, helping me get steady on my feet.

"Guess you're no good at ice skating" he commented.

"What gave that away?" I smiled, brushing the slush from my pants.

"May I escort you to your dorm? I'm afraid if I leave you here at this hour, it may be awhile before someone else comes along to rescue you."

I let out a laugh. It was a sweet gesture, however, completely unnecessary. I nodded and linked my arm through his. "Sure, but I should warn you, I'm not very graceful. I'm not sure that you understand what you've gotten yourself into."

As we headed toward Pemberly, I kept sliding and tripping, I was sure that I was going to fall and take Sawyer down with me. Yet he caught me every time.

"Thanks for the help Sawyer. I don't think I would have made it without you." I said at we arrived at the doorstep of Pemberly.

He blushed and looked down at his feet. "Really it was no problem, Reed"

"No, really, you're always saving me. Thank you."

He looked like he was about to say something, but then shook his head. "Goodnight Reed, See you at the dance tomorrow?"

"Of course after all the blood and sweat I've put into this event, I wouldn't miss it. Goodnight."

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The Day of the St. Valentine's Ball, all the girls were running about, chattering excitedly. Apparently no one takes a date to this dance, which made me feel a little better about being single. Tradition is that everyone goes to the ball in search of their "Valentine." This to me sounded like their excuse to hook up with random people. Whatever, maybe I'd find a Valentine. A girl could hope right?

Tiffany had spent the better part of an hour curling my hair into perfect loose ringlets while London did her magic on my face. My eyes were rimmed in black, the lids dusted with silver shimmer and finished with two coats of black mascara. I had a swipe of glittery pink blush on each cheek and a coat of nude gloss on my lips. In my fancy Purpley blue dress, I felt like an ice princess. I wore no Jewelry fearing it would be too much paired with my dress's sequins. I did however borrow a pair of Amberly's Monolo's. The shoes were silver and strappy with four inch heels. I was praying that the sidewalks had been cleared since last night. Ice and heels don't mix.

When all of us girls were dressed and ready to go, Tiffany insisted on taking as many pictures as she could before we left. I didn't mind, I felt beautiful.

Noelle, Vienna, London, Tiffany, and I arrived at the great hall arm in arm. It seemed as though the room froze as we entered. We knew we were hot, and everyone else acknowledged this fact as well by openly admiring our entrance. As my eyes surveyed the room, I spotted Josh. Alone. I wondered where Ivy was. His eyes were on me, staring intensely.

We made our way to the dance floor and let loose. This was much needed fun. As we danced Tiffany took frequent pictures of us. I was pretty sure that she had enough pictures to make a scrapbook on this night alone. I eventually broke free from my group, and made my way to the punch bowl. I realized after my second sip of punch that somebody had obviously emptied a flask of everclear into the bowl, halfway through my paper cup, I was feeling tipsy.

"Hey you."

"I spun around slowly to find myself face to face with Josh." My heart skipped a beat.

I sat down my now empty cup. "Where is your girlfriend?"

"I'm looking at her, that is…if you'll still have me?" he replied. I stared at him, blinking for a long moment.

"I don't understand, what are you saying?"

"Reed…I don't know what was wrong with me. I've been stupid. I cared for Ivy. She's a sweet girl. But I'm only in love with you. You were right about everything. I've been selfish and inconsideration, I thought I was doing the right thing. I was wrong and I know that now. I love you Reed, I choose you."

Everything stopped, the music, the talking, the people. All I could see was Josh. When I tried to speak a sob escaped my throat. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him, maybe a little two forcefully. When I finally pulled back I looked up into his eyes. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say that. Of course I'll be with you."

I couldn't keep my hands off Josh. No matter how hard I tried, I was holding his hand, running my hand through his hair, touching his chest. All of the things that I had thought that I was never going to get to do again. "What do you say we get out of here?" I whispered into his ear. Without responding he just smiled and took my hand, leading me into the cold night air.

Before long we were walking into the deserted boy's dorm. I followed him up to his room. When the door was finally closed behind us, I practically jumped him. I kissed him urgently, my arms were around his neck and my legs around his waist. He caught me, and stumbled backwards to sit on his bed. I slid off his shirt jacket and started unbuttoning his oxford shirt.

"Are you sure?" he asked breathlessly as he pushed me back a little.

"Yes" I replied "I only need to know what thing first. Did you and Ivy-"

"We never did anything like this" he assured me before I could ask.

I smiled, and then proceeded to undress him.

When I stood up and slid out of my dress, Josh looked me over, his eyes drinking in the sight of my body. He grinned slightly. "And I thought you looked good in the dress…but now I'm thinking it looks better on the floor."

"Josh!" I exclaimed "that is sooo inappropriate"

"No this is inappropriate" he replied pulling me towards him. He kissed along my collarbone. As his lips traveled down my body, I could hardly breathe, I could hardly think. The only thing on my mind was Josh. Josh was mine.

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The night I had once spent would Thomas could not begin to measure up to the perfection of my night with Josh. Afterwards, I spent hours in Josh's arms. It was hard to leave, but I had to get back to my room before morning. He was asleep when I wiggled out of bed and stepped back into my dress. I took a minute to smooth down my hair, which was so not pretty anymore.

As I had predicted trudging in the snow was hard to do in four inch heels. I was relieved when I finally arrived at the dorm, however relief was soon turned to panic as I opened the door to my room.

My eyes followed a trail of rose petals that led from my door, to my bed. When my eyes reached my bed my heart dropped and I gasped.

"Hey sexy, I was beginning to think you'd never show. Miss me?" on my bed, covered in rose petals, on Valentine's Day, was none other than Upton Giles.

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A/N: Did you love it? =) lol. I tried to keep this as PG13 as possible. Did I throw you off with the Sawyer thing?…because that was so the point & I think I'm doing better on chapter length today! Lol. Anyway, Review… please?


	6. Chapter 6

My eyes traveled around the room, noting the changes. There was a bottle of champagne resting in a bucket of ice, a silver tray of chocolate covered strawberries on my bed side table, and slow music playing on my stereo. This was obviously well thought out.

"Upton…what are you doing?"

"I came to find my Valentine." He replied as he stood and walked towards me. Right away I knew something wasn't right, his steps were awkward. He wasn't steady on his feet.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm better now." He replied as he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me towards him.

"No, Upton…something's the matter with you." I put my palms against his chest, pushing him away from me. Upton stumbled backwards slightly, but still maintained his grip on me. "Please Upton, you need to leave."

"What's wrong Reed, I fail to text you a few times, and suddenly you're too good for me?"

"A few times? I haven't heard from you since break. And beside this isn't even about that. Its past curfew, you can't be in here I could be expelled!"

A stupid grin spread across his face. "You don't want me to leave." He stated, tightening his arms around me. My mind reeled, how was I going to get out of this situation?

"Please let go of me." I tried to push him back again, but this time he didn't budge " I want you to leave Upton."

His eyes flashed. I had made him angry. Before I could react, he was kissing me, forcing his tongue down my throat. "You don't want me to leave Reed, you're confused. Its been awhile, you've just forgotten how good we are together."

"No! you were a fling. Its been over for more than a month. I have a boyfriend. And I love him. And I'm not going to ruin that for you. I'm not sure what you thought was going to happen, but you're messed up. I don't even know who you are right now. I'm not sure if your drunk or you're on some sort of drug, but right now you're not the guy I had fun with this Christmas." I felt the sting of a hand across my face.

" Now Reed, don't be stupid." He growled. I was scared. His hands circled around my neck. I let out a scream as he pushed me against the wall. His hands tightened around my throat, cutting of my air supply. I was so confused. This wasn't Upton, it couldn't be. The Upton I knew wouldn't hurt me. Only, right now…he wasn't only hurting me, he was trying to kill me. I was going to die. But I couldn't die. I had just got Josh back. I started flailing my arms and legs. Lucky for me, I had a lot of stuff. Books and picture frames were knocked off of my desk, each item hitting the floor with a bang. Upton didn't seem to be threatened by the noise, he was just angry that I was moving. He let go of my neck, grabbing me by the shoulders and slamming me against the wall. I took the opportunity and let out a blood curdling scream. I screamed so loud that the back of my throat burned. Upton jumped back at the sound of my voice, his eyes focused and he looked at me with an expression of horror. " Oh my god…oh god. Reed? Shit! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

He let go of me and I crumpled to the floor crying. At that moment the room of my door burst open and everyone on my floor piled into my room, looks of terror on each face. Upton grabbed the champagne bottle and jumps out of my first floor window. Then everything went black.

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"Reed! Reed wake up!"

"Noelle?" I tried to answer, but my voice wouldn't work. I opened my eyes to see Noelle and Ivy crouched beside me. Behind them were many other faces that my mind wouldn't recognise.

"Are you ok Reed?" Noelle asked, obviously shaken.

"I'm…" I couldn't say anymore, I burst out crying. "I'm not ok. I didn't….i didn't want.."

"Ssssh…can we get you anything?"

"I…need….Josh" I replied between sobs.

Noelle looked over to our house mother who simply nodded knowingly. Noelle then looked around for someone to send, pointedly skipping over Ivy. "Constance, go fetch Josh."

I tried to move, but let out a whimper instead. My entire body hurt. I wasn't sure how long they had been there, but I then spotted two police officers stepping forward through the group of girls.

"Miss Brennan. We have some questions."

I kind of went in and out of consciousness during the questioning. It was over before I realized it had even begun. When the officers turned to leave is when I realized that the three of us had been alone in the room. Where did everyone go?

As soon as the officers had exited, Josh rushed in.

"Reed, baby. I'm sorry this happened." He pulled me into his arms.

"Ouch" I whimpered , causing him to loosen his arms from me. "No, don't let go" I cried, burying my face into his neck. Josh kissed my forehead and ran his fingers through my hair.

"Aren't you mad at me?" I asked, barely above a whisper.

Josh pulled me back at arm's length to look into my eyes. "Why would I be mad at you? You didn't do anything wrong Reed."

"He kissed me" I sobbed, "he kissed me and I couldn't stop it."

"This isn't your fault Reed. You know that right? Of course I'm not mad. He did this, not you." He leaned down and kissed me gently on the lips. "I'm just sorry I wasn't here to protect you."

For the first time in a long time, I felt safe. I fell asleep curled up in Josh's arms.

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A/N : What is Reed's life without drama? For the record, I actually like Upton , which is kind of why I had to make him drug altered for this scene. But on a brighter note, I got a new laptop so now I can maybe work on longer chapters. Please Review =)


	7. Chapter 7

"I'm fine" I assured Noelle for the five thousandth time since breakfast. "Really, no broken bones, no emotional trauma. I'm just tired and ready to move past this."

She shook her head looking past me, "I just can't believe it, Upton? Who would have thought…"

"Noelle…If I've learned anything since starting school here, it's that no one is who you think they are." I raise an eyebrow at her, giving her my most convincing suspicious look "You're not going to jump up with a razor blade and try to off me next are you?" I joke, trying to make light of everything.

"So not funny Glass-licker."

I shrug. " You never know."

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"Reed?" I look over my shoulder to find Amberly running down the hall to catch up with me "Wow, they were right, you do look bad. Are you ok?"

I reached up to cover the bruise with my hand. Somewhere between the incident and my first class, a dark purple and green bruise had appeared in the shape of a hand across the left side of my face. It was interesting considering that I couldn't remember being slapped. "Thanks for the sensitivity Amberly" I replied sarcastically . "But yes I'm fine."

"It's terrible how things keep happening to you. Maybe Poppy was right, maybe you do have a black cloud following you. Have you ever thought about seeing like a psychic or something? It's hard to believe that everything is just coincidental. What are the odds that all of your friends would turn out to be psycho killers?"

"Gee Amberly that was deep for you. A lot of stuff does happen to me, but coincidence is a lot more logical than paranormal forces."

"Okay, whatever, it was just a suggestion." She stormed off, visibly upset.

_Hmm…that was odd_. I wondered what that was all about. I've never really liked Amberly, the only thing she was really good for was the existence of my CarmaCard. Mostly she just caused me trouble.

~*~*~*~*~

My last class couldn't have ended fast enough. All I really wanted to do was go back to my Pemberly single and sleep. At least when I'm there, no one can look at me, and I won't have to listen to them whispering behind my back. Unfortunately, during my quick getaway, I tripped over my own feet, scattering my books and pens across the sidewalk.

"You're quite the clumsy one aren't you?"

I looked up and into the eyes of Sawyer Hathaway, who was now kneeling down to help me gather my things. "Ah, my hero." I reply with a smirk. "Always saving me."

" Yeah well, someone has to right?"

I rolled my eyes. This 'Reed is breakable and needs to be looked after' act that everyone was playing was really getting old. "I can take care of myself, thanks Sawyer." I shove my stuff in my bag and turned to leave.

"Wait Reed. I didn't mean to upset you."

I sigh "It's ok... I'm just a little touchy right now"

"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that my dad knows what you and Noelle are doing. I heard him talking on the phone with Mr. Lange."

"Are we in trouble?" I ask, bored.

" I don't think so…but the lack of funds is really hurting the school."

"Good. So then my plan is working. Tell your Dad that he'll get his money, when we get Billings back."

"I'm not a messaging service Reed, and I'm not getting in the middle of this, I just thought you'd like to know."

"Do you think we have a chance?" I asked Sawyer hopefully

"Depends…if your friends really stick to the whole no donations thing that they're playing, then there's a good likely hood that he'll cave."

"Thank you Sawyer, that's what I needed to hear."

~*~*~*~

"**Start picking out paint colors" **I texted to Noelle

**Y?**

**We'll b returning 2 billings very soon =)**

Not five minutes later, Constance, Vienna and London burst into my room. "Is it true? We're getting Billings back?" they all seemed to say at once.

"Well…it's not official yet so don't get too excited. But I have a feeling that our luck is about to change for the better."

~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: I know this is a little short guys and I also know that it's a boring filler chapter, but it will get good again soon, I promise. I want to thank everyone that has left positive reviews. I really enjoy reading your input. However, on that note I do want to make a request. If you want to leave a negative review, it's your choice. Of course I don't expect everyone to love my story, and everyone has their own opinion. I'd just like to say that if you feel the need to be negative, please make your comment informative. Comments such as "your story sucks" and stuff like that will just be deleted. I do however, welcome constructive criticism. If you want to tell me that I have too many run on sentences and that my punctuation is all wrong, or that I use certain wording to frequently, please do! I really do want to improve on my writing, so if there is something you think I need to work on, please let me know. Again I want to thank all of you that have been reading. I appreciate your support. I might not update tomorrow because I have to open at work, then when I get home I have to watch Vampire Diaries =) but I promise I'll update on Friday (it's my day off).


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